348 F355 top speeds, HOW FAST HAVE YOU GONE?

140 in my 1998 F355 GTB. A "sestina" is a form of formal poetry dating from the 12th century with an intricate pattern of repeating the last word in each line in the first stanza in a certain order in subsequent stanzas.

Sestina On Doing One Hundred And Forty On The 405.

The speedo pegged at 130 and man that felt fine.

I was twenty-one, the age when a guy's just got to speed.

Forty-five years later I'm on the 405 again, same wide cut

through the Valley where I'd gone so fast.

The Sierra foothills frame the shimmering asphalt.

The traffic for a change, is light. Baby, it's time.


Forty-five years at the wheel's a long time -

lots of detours, some went well, a few not so fine.

Once, in a doc's office, my future looked bleak as cracked asphalt.

It's the wrecker yard, he said, you're done with speed.

Surgery days after the diagnosis, that doc moved fast.

A crooked back road of stitches where he cut.


But man, that doc was wrong! A scar's all that's left from that cut.

Forget running on fumes, damn gauge was off and it wasn't my time.

Hooked up jumper cables: yoga, dance, a shrink, and got restarted fast.

Shifted back into high gear, but not all was fine:

divorce lawyers charge hourly and you can't get those guys to speed.

House gone, wife gone, nothing left but to hit the asphalt.


Forty five years later I've seen a lot of asphalt,

logged pit stops and met a woman or two for whom I made the cut.

Got calmer, too - less urge for speed.

Learning to take my time.

Learning not finishing first is fine.

Learning to take it slow not fast.


I'm back on the 405, back where I drove so fast,

maxed out, wind buffeting the asphalt,

twenty-one then, single, in a hot car and feeling fine.

It's Sunday morning and the 405's an empty cut.

I shift down and floor it like the last time.

Under the hood 400 horsepower rev up and speed.

I do 140 easy, well past my old top speed.

Wish I'd seen the CHP going the other way fast,

but baby I was having too good a time.

Didn't take him long to hang a U-turn on the divider asphalt.

That some **** trucker turned me in was the worst cut.

Still, got off pretty light: six months probation and a $500 fine.


Do I regret at my age nailing the 405's asphalt?

Hell no, man! If my fast run hadn't been cut

my top speed would've been even more fine.

 

175 speedo indicated in my (previous) '95 F355 ~20 years ago. It was exhilarating but choose to keep it more reasonable these days unless on a track.